On to the GRAND CANYON

Sunday. We got up early this morning so that we can go back through Zion before it gets crowded. We decided not to do the shuttle. We will have to come back when it is not so crowded. After enjoying the scenery in Zion NP again, we headed to the Grand Canyon National Park on the north rim via hwy 89.  We just at Lake Jacob.  This is a really cool place! They have cabins and a campground and a cute little shop and restaurant. We ate at the restaurant and had a very good meal. We stopped at the national forest visitor center and the young man told us that the NP campground was probably full, but we can camp anywhere on National forest grounds for free. He directed us to a beautiful spot!  In fact this is my favorite spot of the entire trip…right on the edge of the Canyon!  After setting up camp, we road the bikes a couple of miles down the dirt road.  We cooked scrambled eggs for dinner - and yes, we ate a lot of eggs this trip J.  We sat in our chairs and enjoyed the view until it was dark and then took another warm shower (yay for hillbilly ingenuity).  It is very cool and supposed to get down into the 30’s tonight, but it is warm and cozy in our little camper!

Love HooDoos!!

Saturday:  Yesterday we drove around looking at the Hoodoos, but this morning we hiked down in the Hoodoos taking the sunset to sunrise trail and then part of the Queen trail. The hike down was easy, it is the hike back up that is a challenge :)

We were a little rushed to get back to the camper in time for an 11:00 checkout.  When we left Bryce we headed over to Zion.  There is a tunnel there, but the camper is small enough to get through without an escort.  This is another beautiful drive!  Phillip had told me it would be warmer in Zion and he was correct...it got warmer the further west we traveled. It got up to 99 (and we had been used to temps in the 60s). Zion was very crowded and the little town of Springdale on the other side was too...and very commercial! Because of the heat we decided to stay in a Holiday Inn Express in Washington (just past Springdale on the interstate). I worked on my paper some while PWD visited the Harley store. Afterwards we drove into St George and had dinner at a Texas road house.

on to BRYCE NP

Friday. Phillip and I took an early morning walk along the Fremont River on our way to get cinnamon rolls from the little store in this campground.  The store wasn't open yet so we explored the grounds.  We saw some mule deer and  Marmots in the barn and around the barn.  We headed out at about 9:30. I left a little early and ran down the highway and Phil picked me up after he got the camper hooked up. We took scenic hwy 12 to Bryce which was very different from what we have been seeing - lots of trees. We stopped at little shop and bought a Native American flute from a local craftsman. Later on the drive we stopped at the visitor center or information center for forest service on Hwy 12.  The last time we stopped here, the host was cooking beans and cornbread and this time the hosts had jelly and biscuits. The host was a couple from Florida. That informed us that we can camp anywhere on forest service land...not just designated campsites. There are some easy to get to spots on a creek nearby and you can park right next to the water (remember this for next trip). 

We have not had a signal for cell phones for some time.  As we got into Boulder I noticed that they had cell service, so we stopped and made some calls.  Outside of Boulder - about ten miles I think - we hit the razorback....straight down on either side! I remember this drive from last time ...very scarey. 

Friday night we stayed at a big campground (commercial, not park) going into Bryce. We had a spot with electricity, water, etc. and good showers. We are having some problems keeping our batteries charged so we needed a place with electricity so we could charge them. We parked the trailer and then drove into the canyon. We drove to rainbow point and then hiked up to inspiration point...tough hike up!  Dinner tonight is scrambled eggs and green chili sauce in the Wanderlust.

Capital Reef National Park

Thursday we got up around 6:30 and enjoyed coffee and the view.  We spent last night at a BLM campsite that is on a small hill and we can see off into a nearby small canyon.  We had a little bit of a drive to the next park, but we arrived at Capital Reef National Park around noon (we took I-70 and then took hwy 24 to get into CRNP). It was a cool drive....this area looks like the moon! 

We were able to get a spot at the CRNP campground (the NP campgrounds are usually full before noon).  With the Senior price it is only $5, but no amenities. They do have running water in the toilets and we are able to fill up water jugs, but not our tank.  We read that this is the least used of the five National Parks in Utah, but we loved it.  The camp site is very nice with lots of huge cottonwood trees. This was a small settlement in the 1800s and it is very interesting to look at what they were able to accomplish....a fruit orchard, irrigation from the creek for the orchard and gardens.  The early settlers created this lush area in the valley of the desert.

We took the "scenic drive" and did some hiking around this evening. In fact, we were able to get in 11000 steps today (we have been keeping up with our steps on my Fitbit). They have an onsite store that sells pies using fruit from the local orchards so we bought one for dinner. We cooked sausage and zucchini on the grill for dinner....why does food always taste better when you are camping?   It was great to have a warm shower tonight after warming water next to the truck motor.  The trailer is working great for us!  The beds are warm and cozy and we are very comfortable.

This is Grand Wash drive.  Some outlaw hid out in this area....

Hillbilly Ingenuity

I love to camp, but we are often staying where there are no showers.  We have a pop-up privy and water in jugs, but the water is cold.  We decided to heat the water next to the truck engine.  There is a space for a second battery, so the water fits perfectly in that spot.  Phillip just used some zip ties (he always has plenty of zip ties on hand) to attach.  This works perfectly!  It is great to have a warm shower!

Moab and on to Arches and North Canyonland

Wednesday:  We decided to go into town for breakfast and ate at the Moab Cafe, which was very good!  Phillip decided that we should wash the sand off of our rig before heading out (it didn't do much good). 

We headed straight to Arches National Park and drove around to all sections and high points but no hiking today.

Notice that there are two guys climbing below:

This is the house at a settlement in this area.  I can't imagine living out here in these primitive conditions....it is hot in summer, cold in winter, no trees, dusty....

After Arches we headed directly to the north entrance to CLNP to see the sights and take some pictures. Again, today is just to drive through and see the sights (we did enough hiking yesterday). 

Both parks were beautiful!  After we left the park we found another BLM site, Horse Thief campground. Nice spot but again had only vault toilets. Good thing that I had planned ahead and had boiled eggs so I could make tuna salad for dinner.

It had been warm all day but cooled way down just in time for our shower...another cold shower tonight.....

Hiking the Needles

Tuesday:   We spend the day at Canyonlands National Park, entering at the southeast entrance (there is another entrance and you can't cover the whole park from either entrance).  We stopped at the visitor center first, then took the long hike to the needles - 6 miles round trip.   This was a challenging hike!  We took a simple picnic lunch and enjoyed it in a shady spot.   We left around 9 and got back around 2, so we were pretty hot, dusty and tired by the time we returned.  We drove on to Moab and stayed at the Spanish Trail RV park which was very nice.